Page 21 of Trick of Light

Hannah, Reggie, and Gretchen exchanged nervous glances.

“Come on,” Bethany urged, “I know you’re dying to tell me. It’s been all over the hospital since Monday.”

In the silence, her heart surged with apprehension. She recalled that party in 2012 when friends had mentioned Nick’s “numerous” mistakes. Nick’s father had always covered them up. How many times had that happened in the previous twelve years? How often had Dr. Bob Waterstone drawn the curtain over Nick’s tendencies?

Now that Bethany had taken Dr. Bob Waterstone’s position, was she expected to shove Nick’s mistakes under the rug? Was she supposed to pretend he was the hospital's best surgeon?

The alcohol was already going to Bethany’s head. “My husband won’t talk to me,” she said, trying to smile at her friends and assure them they won’t get into trouble for telling the truth. “He won’t come out of his office. I’m basically a single mother right now until I figure out how to get him through this.”

Hannah winced. Bethany regretted being so vulnerable with people who worked under her. She was supposed to be in charge. Then again, this was her reality. Maybe it was better to be open about it.

“We all know that Nick can be a bit, erm, clumsy in the operating room,” Reggie began delicately.

Bethany flared her nostrils. “Of course.” Her heartbeat pounded in her ears. She had to be brave. “I’ve made mistakes before. We all have.”

Reggie and Hannah locked eyes. Hannah shrugged.

“This time was different from the other times,” Hannah explained.

“Different, how?” Bethany asked.

“I don’t think you want to know,” Hannah said simply.

“I need to know,” Bethany said. “I mean, I have to figure out his future. I have to decide whether he’s actually a viable staff member.”

Reggie gave her a strange look. Bethany knew they didn’t think she was strong enough to fire her husband.

This was why she hadn’t wanted to work with Nick in the first place. Her instincts back in her twenties and thirties had been correct. But when she’d been offered the gig, she’d jumped at it. It was the pinnacle of her career.

When the food arrived, Reggie, Hannah, and Gretchen chatted about other hospital gossip as Bethany dropped deeper in her chair and nibbled onion rings. As she crunched and cleaned up her hands, then greased them up all over again, she ran through the conversations she’d had with Nick regarding his upcoming surgeries. The final talks they’d had before he refused to talk to anyone.

And then, a realization thudded in her gut.

Recently, Nick had told her he had a problem with one of his patients. Bethany had seen a solution easily and told him what to do. She’d seen it as her duty—both as his boss and as his wife.

But what if whatever Bethany had told him to do hadn’t worked? What if Nick wasn’t talking to her because her suggestion had led to something horrible?

“The patient,” Bethany blurted, interrupting them, “did they make it?”

There was an awkward pause. Hannah sighed.

“He made it,” she explained, “but it took a bit of an intervention from Reggie. It was touch and go for a while. I guess that’s when Nick left the hospital in a panic.”

“I should tell him that the patient made it,” Bethany said. “I’m sure he’d want to know.”

Hannah raised her shoulders, then turned as the server hurried past. She ordered another light beer for herself, talking about the tremendous stress of that week. Bethany knew most of that stress was Nick’s fault.

Or maybe—was it actually Bethany’s fault?

After they finished lunch, Reggie, Gretchen, and Hannah headed home. Bethany remained in the parking lot of the restaurant and then returned to grab a seat at the bar. It was five thirty at Chili’s, and parents and young children streamed in for platters of nachos and half-off margaritas. Bethany ordered a margarita with chunks of salt on the rim and rubbed her temples, thinking about her conversation with Nick. What if this was all her fault? What if she’d nearly killed Nick’s patient and put Nick’s career on the line?

All the while, she’d assumed Nick was in the wrong here. But was that arrogance? Amanda had often warned her about that. “You’re a woman in a man’s world,” she’d said, “and you have to keep yourself aware of hubris. Nobody respects an arrogant woman.”

As Bethany sipped her margarita, she removed her phone from her purse and sent a text to Nick.

BETHANY: Hey, honey. How are you feeling?

When he didn’t answer, she wrote again.

---